PIATTI Music for Cello and Piano 2 Songs

Andrea Noferini cello Roberto Plano piano · Joanna Klisowska soprano ALFREDO PIATTI 1822-1901 Supposing you came across a concert program announcing Alfredo Piatti as the cellist, Music for Cello and Piano · 2 Songs and Nicolò Paganini as the violinist: even first-time concert goers would probably know something about the latter, whose name is practically synonymous with the violin, whereas only cello specialists would be familiar with the name of Piatti. 1. Fantasia Sopra Alcuni Motivi della Gemma The two musicians were very different in character, and this probably helps di Vergy by Geatano Donizetti for cello and piano (1840) 15’43 explain why one managed to become the personification of his chosen instrument, 2. Air Baskyrs Op.8 for cello and piano (1844) 4’58 projecting a lasting image of his “diabolical” achievements, whereas the other was 3. L’Abbandono Op.1 for cello and piano (1842) 10’05 described as “…slightly built and very simple, a man who shuns all affectation and 4. Capriccio over a Theme from “Niobe” by charlatanism…” (Revue de Paris, 1844). Giovanni Pacini Op.22 for cello solo (1843) 9’40 Born in Bergamo in 1822, Carlo Alfredo Piatti was for the cello what Nicolò 5. Pioggia d’Aprile Studio Capriccio for cello and piano 2’27 Paganini was for the violin: a musician who transcended the acme of culture and 6. Notturno Op.20 for cello and piano (1865) 5’55 performance regarding his instrument. Having completed his studies under Vincenzo 7. La Bergamasca Op.14 for cello and piano (1852) 4’54 Merighi at the Conservatoire in Milan, he began his professional career in 1837, playing in the orchestras of the Teatro Sociale and the Teatro Riccardi in Bergamo, 8. O Swallow, Swallow for soprano, cello and piano 4’05 and later with the Teatro Regio in Turin and the Teatro Carcano in Milan. 9. La Sera Nocturne for soprano, cello and piano (1840) 7’01 His remarkable talent was immediately evident, to the extent that by 1843 he was already travelling throughout Europe on concert tours, accompanied by his father. During this period, which included almost a whole year in Russia, he met with great acclaim, although from the economic point of view it was an uphill struggle, Andrea Noferini cello despite the esteem he earned among personalities of the calibre of Felix Mendelssohn Roberto Plano piano Bartoldy, François Servais, Jacobs Mayerbeer and Franz Lizst. Indeed, it was this Joanna Klisowska soprano latter who described him as “a Paganini of the Cello”, presenting him with an Amati cello as a token of his admiration. Piatti’s peregrinations culminated in a visit to London, where he settled in 1846. In the mid-1800s, musical life in the British capital was full of energy and opportunity. In next to no time Piatti was appointed First Cello a Her Majesty’s Theatre, and at Covent Garden. It was thanks to this professional position that in 1847 he took part in the premiere performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s I Masnadieri. On learning that Piatti was playing in the orchestra, the composer wrote a Prelude consisting of a cello solo

Recording: 16-18 June 2016, BartòkStudio, Bernareggio, Italy Producer & Sound Engineer: Raffaele Cacciola, BartòkStudio Artistic Project & Artistic Director: Andrea Noferini Editing: Gianluca Laponte & Andrea Noferini (Capriccio Op.22) Mastering: BartokStudio Instruments: Cello, “Otello Bignami” Bologna 1981; Piano, “Bösendorfer Gran Coda” Cover: © by Alfredo Piatti p & © 2018 Brilliant Classics with an orchestral accompaniment, which he dedicated to the great cellist. Stradivari that had been given to him and that today bears his name. Curiously During the many years he lived in London, Piatti also pursued a brilliant career enough, during his long career he never used a spike, preferring to play his instrument as a soloist and a member of chamber ensembles, regularly taking part in the city’s in the baroque style, wedged between his legs. Piatti’s friend and colleague Adrien- Popular Concerts. He thus came into contact with important musicians of the time, François Servais, whom Hector Berlioz described as “a Paganini of the cello”, was including Camillo Sivori, Giovanni Bottesini, Clara Schumann, Henri Vieuxtemps, one of the first to adopt the new endpin, which was rapidly gaining ground among Joseph Joachim, Antòn Rubinstein, Edvard Grieg, Hans von Bülow, Antonio Bazzini, cellists of the period. Henryk Wieniawski and Pablo Sarasate. He ultimately left London in 1898, spending his last years in Mozzo, near his native Bergamo, where he died in 1901. Fantasia Sopra Alcuni Motivi della Gemma di Vergy Piatti’s repertoire comprised virtuoso pieces, solo works with piano or orchestral At the time many composers wrote virtuoso-style arrangements and variations on accompaniment, and a wide range of chamber music in view of the fact that he played opera arias. In 1840 Piatti published a somewhat heterogeneous work based on with various ensembles, including the quartet in which Joachim played first violin. themes from Gaetano Donizetti’s opera La gemma di Vergy, which was premiered at The music that most interested him went from Corelli to Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven La Scala in Milan in 1834. and Schubert, without neglecting the works of his own contemporaries, such as The original version of this Fantasia envisaged the solo cello accompanied by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saëns. an orchestra, but to extend its appeal the composer also arranged and published a As a composer, on the other hand, Piatti studied under the guidance of his friend version for cello and piano. This was common practice at the time, the piano score Bernhard Molique, later producing a considerable catalogue of different works. being a mere arrangement of the orchestral part, along the lines of the piano scores Written during the years of his far-flung concert tours, his arrangements of great that are still used today to accompany singers performing opera arias. opera themes took the form of Fantasies, Souvenirs and Variations and were definitely The Fantasia begins with an orchestral introduction, the Allegro, which is followed written for public performance. The compositions based on folk tunes came into the by a Solo, a piacere statement on the part of the cello preceding the first Aria, an same category, whereas the shorter pieces were usually performed as an encore. Andante in 12/8 time with embellishments in gruppetti tagliati featuring a descending In his work Piatti managed to reconcile virtuoso skill with a highly lyrical approach flourish to the key note, a device that recurs throughout the composition. At the end to melody, his overall handling of composition revealing his debt to vocal technique. of the Aria there is an opulent Allegro that embodies a brilliant technical expedient Clearly his aim was to enrich the somewhat limited 19th century cello repertoire to introduce the new variation in 3/4 time, and Allegro in the shape of a waltz that with gems such as the Capricci Op.25, written in 1865. The intrinsic beauty of is then reworked in agile double triplets, arpeggios and octaves. A further orchestral these pieces, which unquestionably also embody a degree of didactic intent, explains passage links this up with a Moderato, capriccioso, which in its turn heralds a why they are now hailed as cornerstones of the cello repertoire, just as the Paganini new Aria. As with the Capriccio della Niobe Op.22, the ben legato subject of the Capricci are for the violin. new Aria is “self-accompanied”, not only by the piano, but also by the cello itself, Piatti retired from public performance in 1897, having since 1866 played a with measured trills on the lowest string that echo the tremoli of the strings in the orchestra. The serried conclusion of the Aria features octaves that tend towards the L’Abbandono Op.1 cadenza (Tempo a piacere, con molta espressione) that is developed in harmonics Song for cello and piano, published in 1842. in the second part, leading to a recapitulation of the waltz motif, this time in the This Andante Melanconico in B flat major features an extreme example of a trait halved values of 6/8 rather than 3/4 time, followed by a coda and the resolution in typical of Piatti’s handling of melody in writing for the cello: the use of octaves in classic opera style, in which Piatti invests the cello part with an amazing display of the thematic passages, especially in the development and the recapitulation. In this picchettati, double thirds and octaves. case, the cello voices the double tessitura in the second part of the composition, as if it were a variation. Moreover, apart from the subject in octaves, Piatti has also added Air Baskyrs Op.8 a constant trill to the lower note that greatly enhances the complex audacity of the This work was written during Piatti’s year-long stay in St Petersburg, between 1844 and entire passage. 1845, when he spent a great deal of time with his fellow countryman, the Bergamo- born tenor Gian Battista Rubini, with whom he also performed in many concerts. Capriccio over a Theme from “Niobe” by Giovanni Pacini Op.22 The Baskyrs were an ethnic group of Turkish and Tartar origins, largely residing in Written in 1843, the Capriccio Op.22 derives from the Aria “I tuoi frequenti palpiti” the area between Belaja on the Volga and the southern reaches of the Ural mountains. from Giovanni Pacini’s opera “Niobe”. Apart from the 12 Capricci Op.25, it is The story behind Air Baskyrs concerns a Baskyr man who often used to linger by Piatti’s only other Capriccio for solo cello. “Niobe” had been premiered at the Teatro the window of the house where Piatti was living, drawn by the musician’s presence. San Carlo in Naples in 1826, providing inspiration for various composers intent on After listening for a while, he was wont to take out a typical folk instrument, a sort of writing Variations on opera arias: suffice it to mention Franz Liszt and F. A. Kummer. basic bagpipe, and play tunes of his own. These ethnic motifs inspired Piatti to write The structure of this Capriccio largely mirrors that of opera, with its Tempo a the Air Baskyrs, in which the cello could be accompanied by a string quintet or a Capriccio introduction leading to the start of the Aria, marked as Moderato. A first piano, as in the original version. variation is followed by a cadenza and a further aria, lento, in the minor key, ‘self- The composition consists of an initial Andante Lento, which slightly resembles a accompanied’ by measured trills on the lower string to mirror those that the composer sort of hymn, followed by an Andante Allegretto in dance form in which elements is likely to have envisaged for the strings in an orchestra. Following a brief Allegro reminiscent of folk instruments come to the fore. To achieve this Piatti used bowing transition, this leads to a last variation with a coda and a brilliant più presto finale. on two strings to create something akin to a bourdon effect on the lower string, which One of the characteristics of this lovely piece is the way Piatti introduces tapping with accompanies the mood and stance of the dance movement played on the upper string. the bow in the last variation, with its succession of two lower notes followed by two Next comes a recapitulation of the initial part in an Andante Lento, followed by a higher notes, thereby creating a continuity of short, rapid bursts. return to the Andante Allegretto that leads to the finale with its display of pizzicato played by both hands, before concluding with the arpeggios of the coda. Pioggia d’Aprile Studio Capriccio by a brief Adagio on the cello, accompanied by harmonics and short cadenza This charming miniature marked Allegro ma non troppo speaks for Piatti’s skill embellishments. Next comes an Allegro molto leading to the actual dance form, a in writing virtuoso pieces for the cello without compromising the overall sense Meno Allegro in which the traits mentioned above come clearly to the fore, here of elegance and freshness perceived by the listener. The cello is entrusted with the and there also suggesting the typical step of the Tarantella. In this respect it is also thematic part, which is highly technical and brilliantly underpinned by the piano somewhat reminiscent of the Tarantella for Cello and Piano Op.33 by David Popper. accompaniment. Here again, Piatti establishes a noteworthy technical element to support the entire O Swallow, Swallow composition. Throughout the whole piece, the cello plays with constant chord Following his move to London, where he lived until his return to Italy three years changes, avoiding all repetition of two notes on the same string through to the before his death, Piatti adopted England as his second homeland, to the extent that final arpeggios. This feature is also to be found in the Capricci Op.25, but with an in time he probably had more friends in his elective country than he did in Italy. His important difference: in Pioggia d’Aprile, the first string played in the alternation of correspondence also reveals how he gradually came to appreciate the more muted, the two is the higher one, whereas in the first Capriccio Op.25 the first string to be cloudy colours of England, for all that they differed from the beauty of the blue skies played is the lower one. and sunny air of Italy. This song, which is marked as Moderato, is an expression of his love for his Notturno Op.20 adoptive country, where his career as a musician and composer really got off the Published in 1865 in F major, this composition in 12/8 time echoes the style of 19th ground. It is a setting of a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), one of the century bel canto. It consists of an Andantino mosso involving delicate phrasing and most famous British poets. a sense of slight palpitation suggested by the use of repeated descending accentuation. The central part, marked as Poco più Animato, introduces a degree of ardour and O Swallow, Swallow, flying, flying South agitation, before returning to the atmosphere of the Andantino come prima. Fly to her, and fall upon her gilded eaves, And tell her, tell her, what I tell to thee. La Bergamasca Op.14 O tell her, Swallow, thou that knowest each, La Bergamasca is one of Piatti’s most famous pieces, its name deriving from a dance That bright and fierce and fickle is the South, typical of Bergamo, similar to a Saltarello or certain forms of Tarantella. Published And dark and true and tender is the North in 1852, it was presented to London audiences by the composer himself in 1855. The O Swallow, Swallow, if I could follow, and light evident accentuation of the second half of the bar accounts for the name of the piece, Upon her lattice, I would pipe and trill since it was a feature typical of the Bergamasca. And cheep and twitter twenty million loves. The work begins with an orchestral introduction, an Allegro molto followed O were I thou that she might take me in, And lay me on her bosom, and her heart (I love the hour of the dying day Would rock the snowy cradle till I died. I love the hour of the dying day when the tired sun goes down Why lingereth she to clothe her heart with love, And on the wave of this sea I watch the supreme ray languish Delaying as the tender ash delays In that hour a happier time than this returns to my mind To clothe herself, when all the woods are green? In that sweet, gentle hour my thoughts turn to you, dear heart O tell her, Swallow, that thy brood is flown: Dear heart my thoughts turn to you Say to her, I do but wanton in the South, In that hour a happier time than this returns to my heart But in the North long since my nest is made. My eyes move and my thoughts remain fixed as I contemplate O tell her, brief is life but love is long, The band of light that comes from the quiet west And brief the sun of summer in the North, The tranquil ripple of the sea And brief the moon of beauty in the South. And I wish the golden path could lead me to the infinite track O Swallow, flying from the golden woods Rather as my sorrowful life yearns for a calm haven Fly to her, and pipe and woo her, and make her mine For a calm haven And tell her, tell her, that I follow thee. Rather as my sorrowful life yearns for a calm haven For a calm haven) La Sera Published in 1840, this delightful composition is based on a poem by Cavalier Maffei © Andrea Noferini and is also known as “Notturno”, with the title “I love the hour of the dying day” (“Amo l’ora del giorno che muore”). The Nocturne begins with an Andante that embodies a tribute to the genius of Gioacchino Rossini in the way the cello solo echoes the cello passage in Rossini’s William Tell Overture. Like his arrangement of the Tennyson poem, this example of Piatti’s handling of the cello, piano and voice in trio form speaks eloquently for his skill in interweaving the timbres of voice and instrument in a rich tapestry of feeling, colour and sound. Granted, the cello was his first love, which is why it is entrusted with the brief solo cadenza that follows the più mosso before returning to the initial rhythm and hue of the recapitulation. Hailed by the international press as one of Italian pianist Roberto Plano performs today’s most eminent cellists, Andrea Noferini regularly throughout North America and has won numerous awards, including ‘CD of Europe – notably at the Lincoln Center, the Month’ from Naxos, a gold medal from the Sala Verdi, Salle Cortot, Wigmore Hall Italian Ministry for Culture, ‘Artist of the Year’ and the Herkulessaal. He has appeared from the City of Bologna. His recording of the with orchestras all over the world, under Piatti Capriccios was acclaimed as ‘setting new the baton of renowned conductors such standards of technical perfection on the cello’. as Sir Neville Marriner, James Conlon and At Christmas 2001, his performance of Bach’s G Pinchas Zuckerman. A recitalist at the major Suite was broadcast from the Church of Chopin Festival, the Portland Piano Festival, the Nativity in Bethlehem. the Encuentro de Música y Academia de Born into an artistic family – his mother Santander and many others, he has earned studied piano with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli a reputation for his fine playing and sensitive ensemble work. Plano performs with and his father was a composer and the director chamber music groups including the Takács, Fine Arts, St Petersburg, Vogel and of the Giovanni Battista Martini Conservatoire Henschel string quartets. in Bologna – Noferini’s musical training Plano was winner of the 2001 Cleveland International Piano Competition, a finalist began under the guidance of the great violinist at the 12th Van Cliburn Competition, and a prize winner at the Honens, Dublin, Arthur Grumiaux. He then took a degree at Sendai, Geza Anda and Valencia competitions. His engaging personality has made him the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatoire in Milan, a favourite guest on radio programmes such as NPR’s ‘Performance Today’, and on TV becoming a pupil of Antonio Janigro and shows for PBS and Japan’s NHK. He has recorded CDs for Decca, Sipario, Azica and undertaking further studies with André Navarra, Arktos, and has made first recordings of music by Andrea Luchesi for the Concerto label. Paul Tortelier and Yo-Yo Ma. He has also taught and given master classes worldwide. The New York Times music critic Anthony Tommasini wrote of Plano: ‘This Italian In 1991 he became principal cellist of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. He plays a pianist showed artistic maturity beyond his years… there was a wonderful clarity Tomaso Balestrieri cello of 1759. and control of inner voices in his performances…”. Plano has also been described by The Chronicle as the ‘Pavarotti of the Piano’ on account of his lyricism, and by the Chicago radio commentator Paul Harvey as the heir of Rubinstein and Horowitz. Plano studied at the Verdi Conservatoire in Milan, the École Normale ‘Cortot’ in Paris and the Lake Como Academy. He is Founder and Director of the Music Association ‘Alfred Cortot’. In September 2016 he joined the Faculty of Boston University. Joanna Klisowska - Soprano - Ensemble, Il Canto di Orfeo, Collegium 1704, Divina Armonia, Immortal Bach was born in Wroclaw, Poland, Ensemble, Stuttgarter Vocal Ensemble, Mitteleuropea Orchestra Barocca, La Verdi where she began her musical Barocca. education – first as a violinist, Klisowska has performed at the Bologna Festival, Luzern Festival, Utrecht Early and then as a singer at the Music Festival, Festival Ambronay, Rheingau Musik Festival, Wratislavia Cantans Academy of Music in Professor Settimane Barocche , Musica e Poesia a S. Maurizio, Festival Hendlowski [Handel B. E. Werner’s class. She then Festival], Festival Internazionale di Danza e di Musica Antica, Festival Brezice, attended a course in baroque Festival di Musica Barocca di Rovino, Festival Mozart, Maj z Muzyka Dawna [May singing under the artistic with Early Music], Miedzynarodowy Festiwal Muzyki Organowej i Kameralnej direction of C. Ansermet [International Festival of Organ and Chamber Music], Musica Elettronica Nuova (Milan) as well as graduating among others. with honours from a two- Joanna Klisowska gives concerts throughout Europe, as well as holding master year post-graduate studies classes. For two years she was a member of the jury of Concorso Internazionale program at the faculty of early di Musica Antica, which takes place in Pienza (Italy). At present, together with G. music at the Musikhochschule Capuano and Il Canto di Orfeo group, she is involved in recording all the oratorios of Trossingen under the direction Carissimi and Rossi. of Ch. Hilz and M.K. Kiehr. Her recordings include the recently discovered Oratorium Musicum “Der Mensch She has also worked under ein Gottesmörder” by L. Mozart, with the Bozen Baroque Orchestra conducted by the direction of famous Polish Claudio Astronio for Amadeus (Italy) as well as motets by F. A. Bonporti recorded singer Jolanta Zmurko and attended numerous courses devoted to the performance for the Austrian ORF (Alte Musik), Responsoria by J. D. Zelenka with Collegium of baroque music led by specialists such as G. Banditelli, P. Kooij, B. Schlick, 1704 and Vaclav Luks (Akcent 2012), a CD featuring sacred music by Henry Purcell J.Christensen, L. Brunmayr-Tutz and Kurt Widme. for soprano and bass with the participation of P. Kooij for Stradivarius (Italy 2012). Apart from her main focus in performing music of the baroque and classical Moreover, she has recently recorded a new CD of vocal music by M. Castelnuovo- periods, Klisowska is also interested in French music of the late 19th century, lied Tedesco with Giulio Tampalini for Brillant Classics, to be released in 2017. and contemporary music. Her intense concert schedule has led her to work with C. Astronio, G. Capuano, R. King, B. Kuijken, L. Ghielmi, V.Luks P. Nemeth, P.Neumann, M. Schuldt-Jensen, M. Toporowski, Ch.Toet and R. Vettori, as well as with such groups such as Accademia dell’Arcadia, Artsemble, Bozen Baroque